Let Us Prey
Bless me Father, for my client has sinned…
I generally avoid the subject of religion and Christianity, but expressing my frustration with the Catholic Church in secular terms is like trying to scream without using my lungs.
Last week, LA’s Cardinal Mahony publicly confessed to the archdiocese’s 75 years of child molestation and rape of their littlest and most vulnerable flock. His confession lacked the contrition that God demands, for he not only described the crimes in euphemisms, but he had a lawyer do it for him. In this way, Mahony rendered his confession meaningless.
The spectrum of the Church’s calculated pathology is so broad that it demands both the careful dissection by the world’s most dedicated scientists, and the patient reflection of angry mobs. No courtroom can competently render a just verdict, for anything lower than life-sentences to hard labor or medical experimentation doesn’t approach what is deserved in both human and spiritual terms. Anything less than the assignment of an ombudsman to direct the liquidation of Church assets is akin to brokering a deal to fix the going rate for the serial rape and the extinguished childhood of nine-year-olds. What price do we affix to rape - $100K per incident, $500K? What value do we place on a torn rectum or the suicide of someone who failed to turn the other cheek? Such determinations cannot be made without paying off these victims for services rendered like Judas, a call girl, or some clever street performer.
After all, we’re not talking about a business dispute. That the Catholic Church expects to pay off exploited children with their own parents’ offerings requires parents to accept their role as co-conspirators or accessories. NAMBLA has never devised a scheme as cynical.
My remarks should not shock or challenge those who did not participate in these crimes against humanity. Some pedophiles use clown suits to cultivate victims while others use vestments. For priests who accept celibacy and poverty, assets are as irrelevant as they were to Christ’s disciples – the liquidation of assets as simple as a promise to God. It represents nothing more than a start-over that allows the truly faithful to continue in their ministry unfettered and pure, leaving the rest to find other costumes to wear. I can’t think of anyone more suited to demonstrate the consequences of their pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, laziness, sodomy, or homosexuality. No pass can be assigned for those who exploit the poor, or who defraud the workingman of his wages. Ransacking the Catholic Church as Jesus did the temple affords true Christians a way to save themselves and their church. It will also ensure that the lawyers and the Church hierarchy won’t continue to profit from their ill-gotten gains.
When Humanity brokers mortal sin, we all become accessories. The Church’s assets cannot be legitimately protected, for they are the coveted wages of their mostly poor and middle class congregations; faithful members who hoped their goodness would translate into something other than the violent exploitation of their own children. Like any other criminal enterprise, the Church is not fit to control assets that can be directed to further exploit and silence existing and future victims. This cleansing is long overdue.
October 20th, 2005 at 5:49 am
I wonder why no one in the Los Angeles Police Department has the courage to publicly arrest Cardinal Mahony. It only takes one police officer to arrest him.
October 20th, 2005 at 8:01 am
Good question Mike. If you read “Bad Cops” you’ll understand that LA is back to the corruption of the 1930s. As the LA mayor’s “political arm” the LAPD only pursues non-political criminals or those who won’t ally with them. As long as Mahony isn’t prosecuted, corrupt officials and other liberals will always have the Cardinal around to endorse their own crimes. Clark
October 20th, 2005 at 11:35 am
Oy, where to start…really, you should stick to the politics. You sound intelligent, well-informed, and like someone worth reading.
Nice links to New Advent. Great site for explaining all things Catholic. Not total explainations, but good info. It’s a shame the one on confession doesn’t use the term “sacramental confession”. You might have picked up then that Mahoney’s confession wasn’t sacramental, but secular, p.r.-related even, and so it doesn’t have to hit all, or even any, of the requirements that a sacramental confession does. As for what he has said to his own confessor, well, that’s between the two of them and God. Since you’re about as worthless a scum as Mahoney to God’s eyes, it’s kinda useless pointing out the Cardinal’s faults, endless as they are.
The 75 years of molestation and rape don’t belong to the archdiocese or the Church (and really, couldn’t you go back about 2000 years?) any more than the holocaust is the sin of country of Germany or the crucifixion of Christ is Judism’s fault (and precious few actual Jews (and Romans), all of whom have been dead only slightly less than the risen Christ has been alive).
“The Church’s pathology…” What, did I miss some teaching somewhere in the catechism that priests where suppose to molest children, as well as the sudden revelation that priests no longer could molest them? The pedophilia and molestation was obviously against all doctrine, teaching, revelation, etc of the Church. How various dioceses and bishops handled these priests was horrific, but unfortunately also medical thinking when most of the bishops went through any kind of training or set up training/policies for their peers. Like any heirarchy, change is a bitch for a diocese without an incredible presence at its head. Heck, it’s a bitch even then. And unfortunately most bishops (and priests, and parishoners, and anyone else) aren’t that incredible.
So now, for you, the solution is too much for the courts? You want to sic mobs on priests, Mahoney, and churches? You want to conduct medical experiments on them? And for someone who pissed and moaned at Mahoney’s euphemisms, “medical experiments” is pretty cowardly when you want to say that you want Mahoney and the pedophiles tortured to the point of death, and then healed enough to be tortured again.
You don’t want the diocese to pay off the victims with a certain amount of money, so you want to strip the Church of all assests, which I’m guessing have a certain value, and do what with them? Give them to the victims…I would call that paying them off. You just change them from street corner whores to high priced call girls. Or maybe you want to keep the cash? No, that’s just stupid. Heal the sick, clothe the naked, feed the hungry? Then what? That’s the same whine people have had Lawrence got himself bar-b-qued by Nero, I think it was. During one of the early Roman persecutions, anyway.
“My remarks should not shock or challenge those who did not participate in these crimes against humanity.” Well, since you attack the Church more than any person, why shouldn’t I be shocked or challenged. Point that finger of yours at the ones who committed the crimes. Keep it at me, or worse, my Mother, and I’ll bite it off.
“For priests who accept celibacy and poverty, assets are as irrelevant…” Not all priests make vows to poverty, which kinda nullifies whatever you have to say about thier assets. Did they break their vow of celibacy? Technically I guess. The same way a rapists technically has sexual intercourse. But I’m thinking that this goes wa-a-a-a-y beyond celibacy. I priest were sleeping around with adults, would you be blogging about it?
“It represents nothing more than a start-over that allows the truly faithful to continue in their ministry unfettered and pure…” I’m sorry, but when did you assume the throne of judgment? Who are you to say this one faithful and pure, that one is evil? Oh, and for the ‘costumes,’ do a little research. The basic outfit comes from working man clothes (i.e. the poor!) during an earlier period of the Church, or from Judism (our older brothers in faith), or from pretty heavy symbology and spiritualism. [And before you bring it up, no, not paganism. From the bible, like being a soldier of Christ girding oneself for battle against Satan]
“No pass can be assigned for those who exploit the poor, or who defraud the workingman of his wages.” Senator Boxer, is that you?
Jesus ransacked the Temple? I learned he cleansed it, but ransacked. I don’t know, ransack has a lot of connotations I wouldn’t associate with the Son of God.
“The Church’s assets cannot be legitimately protected, for they are the coveted wages of their mostly poor and middle class congregations…” wow, are you channelling Jack Chick? Ya think most of the congregagations are poor and middle class ’cause most people are poor and middle class? You ever seen stats on how much Catholics give? It’s usually about 3% of their net income, and it’s only that high because of the high-rollers writing 3 and 4 digit checks each week. “Coveted wages,” heh, that’s funny.
“faithful members who hoped their goodness…” back on that throne, huh? Well, I guess I shouldn’t complain. Usually Catholics are portrayed as superstitious oafs who couldn’t form a coherent thought unless the anti-Christ pope and his evil minion-priests put it there.
“Like any other criminal enterprise, the Church is not fit to control assets that can be directed to further exploit and silence existing and future victims.” Criminal enterprise? The Church? I’m sorry, how do you figure? Because of the pedophiles? The jack asses above them who thought they could be treated and then put back in the ministry? That hardly makes the Church a criminal enterprise. I don’t know of any negligence rising above the diocean level, or any criminal activity above the parish level. Then take it out to a world-wide organization, encompassing 1 billion people, and that accusation sounds ludicrous. Tone down the hyperbole. It isn’t helping your case.
“This cleansing is long overdue.” The cleansing will come when the Father is good and ready. Yes, He’ll break out a whip on the Church, or more accurately, on visible members of the Church. But He’ll do that to everyone. The Church itself was, is, and forever will Holy. That’s one of the four signs of the Church (One, Catholic (universal), Apolstolic are the others). It’s the members of the Church that suck.
If you want to trash Mahoney, go ahead. He sucks as a bishop and I wouldn’t make any bets on him as far as being a good Christian. The only decent thing I can think of concerning his episcopocy is he is proof that the Catholic Church is indeed guided by the Holy Spirit. Hear me out. As bad as Mahoney is, the Church has had lots worse as popes, bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and laymen. If Mahoney and that group can’t destroy the Church, then it has to be protected by God. There is no other explanation. No other institution could have survived 2000 years with as lousy a group of people running unless it had divine intervention.
October 20th, 2005 at 9:13 pm
I thank Mark for his mostly thoughtful argument. Because he took as much time as he did, I posted our Q & A here to save space. Clark
February 9th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
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